Tony A. Rowe
@bagelpriest.bsky.social
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
Merry Christmas! If you'd like to spend 45 minutes celebrating video game history with me, we're about to debut The Untold Story of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I worked on his ALL YEAR, and I genuinely think it will reshape how we all think about the system. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJvp...
The Untold Story of the Nintendo Entertainment System
YouTube video by The Video Game History Foundation
www.youtube.com
December 25, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Merry Christmas! If you'd like to spend 45 minutes celebrating video game history with me, we're about to debut The Untold Story of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I worked on his ALL YEAR, and I genuinely think it will reshape how we all think about the system. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJvp...
I posted my English rule book translation for the Panzer World Galient Simulation Game Manual games published in 1985. Swordfighting and axe-swinging anime giant robots on a medieval world! Includes a visual guide to units and weapons. boardgamegeek.com/filepage/313...
Panzer World Galient Simulation Game Manual, English rule book | Panzer World Galient: Simulation Game
Panzer World Galient Simulation Game Manual, English rule book | Panzer World Galient: Simulation Game
boardgamegeek.com
December 25, 2025 at 3:36 PM
I posted my English rule book translation for the Panzer World Galient Simulation Game Manual games published in 1985. Swordfighting and axe-swinging anime giant robots on a medieval world! Includes a visual guide to units and weapons. boardgamegeek.com/filepage/313...
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
Who coined "Metroidvania"? It wasn't @jparish.bsky.social, and he'll be the first to tell you. Besides, there are far more interesting questions, like: How did it spread? Evolve? And what's it got to do with rickrolling?
Watch til the end for a post-credits sting.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8set...
Watch til the end for a post-credits sting.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8set...
The History Of The Word "Metroidvania" And How It Spread
YouTube video by Critical Kate (of A Critical Hit!)
www.youtube.com
December 20, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Who coined "Metroidvania"? It wasn't @jparish.bsky.social, and he'll be the first to tell you. Besides, there are far more interesting questions, like: How did it spread? Evolve? And what's it got to do with rickrolling?
Watch til the end for a post-credits sting.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8set...
Watch til the end for a post-credits sting.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8set...
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
These Fan-Made WipEout Lego Sets Are Amazing, And You Can Build Them Yourself.
These Fan-Made WipEout Lego Sets Are Amazing, And You Can Build Them Yourself
AG-Systems, Van Uber and Tigron available for construction
www.timeextension.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:30 PM
These Fan-Made WipEout Lego Sets Are Amazing, And You Can Build Them Yourself.
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
We are SO EXCITED to finally show you Xcavator 2025! This is an unreleased (and unannounced!) NES game from 1991 that we recovered from its source code. The rights to it were 100% donated to us, and it's being published as a fundraiser cartridge to support our work!
We're partnering with @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social + @megacatstudios.bsky.social to release Xcavator 2025, a never before seen NES game from the legendary Chris Oberth.
100% of profits go to @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social!
Pre-order now to play the newest old game on the market: bit.ly/xcavator-2025
100% of profits go to @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social!
Pre-order now to play the newest old game on the market: bit.ly/xcavator-2025
December 10, 2025 at 7:30 PM
We are SO EXCITED to finally show you Xcavator 2025! This is an unreleased (and unannounced!) NES game from 1991 that we recovered from its source code. The rights to it were 100% donated to us, and it's being published as a fundraiser cartridge to support our work!
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
Yes, I'm on this again! If you've read my Twilight 2000 article & would like to offer your thoughts, it would be helpful. This all forms part of my wider study, so feedback on all of my Cold War/RPGs stuff is appreciated. The survey should only take a few minutes.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
December 9, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Yes, I'm on this again! If you've read my Twilight 2000 article & would like to offer your thoughts, it would be helpful. This all forms part of my wider study, so feedback on all of my Cold War/RPGs stuff is appreciated. The survey should only take a few minutes.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
Playing “Super Alien” on a PC-88 (also made for VIC-20 and C-64). It is a derivation of “Heiankyo Alien,” the game that inspired “Space Panic” and, in turn, every platformer game that followed.
November 15, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Playing “Super Alien” on a PC-88 (also made for VIC-20 and C-64). It is a derivation of “Heiankyo Alien,” the game that inspired “Space Panic” and, in turn, every platformer game that followed.
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
Hurrah! My article on the Twilight 2000 RPG in the Journal of American Studies is now open access (OA), so anyone who wants to can have a read. OA is important to me, as I want my work on RPG history to go beyond the academy and reach the gaming public.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
When You Say, “Thermonuclear War,” I Think You Mean “the Call to Adventure”! The Twilight: 2000 Tabletop Role-Playing Game and the Postapocalyptic World’s Imaginary Spaces | Journal of American Studie...
When You Say, “Thermonuclear War,” I Think You Mean “the Call to Adventure”! The Twilight: 2000 Tabletop Role-Playing Game and the Postapocalyptic World’s Imaginary Spaces
www.cambridge.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Hurrah! My article on the Twilight 2000 RPG in the Journal of American Studies is now open access (OA), so anyone who wants to can have a read. OA is important to me, as I want my work on RPG history to go beyond the academy and reach the gaming public.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
Everything about making video games is harder than you think.
November 6, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Everything about making video games is harder than you think.
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
wizardry: scenario #3 - the legacy of llylgamyn, print ad (1987) archive.org/details/logi...
October 29, 2025 at 12:25 PM
wizardry: scenario #3 - the legacy of llylgamyn, print ad (1987) archive.org/details/logi...
I am ready for the return to the Conveni(ence store) Wars. Let the Barcode Battler revolution begin! (Their original post called it “Barcade Battler” and I like that idea too)
October 17, 2025 at 1:51 PM
I am ready for the return to the Conveni(ence store) Wars. Let the Barcode Battler revolution begin! (Their original post called it “Barcade Battler” and I like that idea too)
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
A very nice appreciation of Chaosium founder Greg Stafford, who passed away 7 years ago this month, but whose influence rates him as "one of the best modern fantasists, worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Moorcock, Leiber, McCaffrey, Martin, and others." open.substack.com/pub/someanci...
Meet Greg Stafford, the best modern fantasy author you don’t know
Game designer, shaman, and inspiration.
open.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 8:20 AM
A very nice appreciation of Chaosium founder Greg Stafford, who passed away 7 years ago this month, but whose influence rates him as "one of the best modern fantasists, worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Moorcock, Leiber, McCaffrey, Martin, and others." open.substack.com/pub/someanci...
Just when I thought I had every Indiana Jones computer game…
Classic game, coming right after Raiders of the Pivot Table
October 14, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Just when I thought I had every Indiana Jones computer game…
Imagine being a professional game journalist in 1996 who doesn’t know about the Puyo Puyo series (including Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine and Kirby’s Avalanche in the US).
Some Guy in the 90s:
"I think is says ljidkijidk Sun."
"I think is says ljidkijidk Sun."
October 11, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Imagine being a professional game journalist in 1996 who doesn’t know about the Puyo Puyo series (including Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine and Kirby’s Avalanche in the US).
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
it's not FOR us
October 10, 2025 at 1:02 PM
it's not FOR us
My brain hurts and I need a Tylenol now.
RT to piss off and confound anyone with basic knowledge of video game history, then reply to me to explain what it is they were trying to actually convey here
September 24, 2025 at 2:39 AM
My brain hurts and I need a Tylenol now.
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
Othello World by Tsukuda Original for the Super Famicom has been scanned in high resolution. Enjoy! www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2025/09/o...
September 19, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Othello World by Tsukuda Original for the Super Famicom has been scanned in high resolution. Enjoy! www.gamingalexandria.com/wp/2025/09/o...
I just posted my translation of Rêve de donjon (Dungeon's Dream), a French fantasy board game with an elaborate M. C. Escher-inspired labyrinth, originally published in Jeux & Stratégie #42 (Dec 1986). Read my blog post for more. crypticarchivist.blogspot.com/2025/09/engl...
English Rules for Rêve de Donjon (Dungeon's Dream)
Get the Rule Book on BoardGameGeek.com Rêve de Donjon game ready to start play with my rule book and reference aid I've completed my Englis...
crypticarchivist.blogspot.com
September 16, 2025 at 8:37 PM
I just posted my translation of Rêve de donjon (Dungeon's Dream), a French fantasy board game with an elaborate M. C. Escher-inspired labyrinth, originally published in Jeux & Stratégie #42 (Dec 1986). Read my blog post for more. crypticarchivist.blogspot.com/2025/09/engl...
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
Happy 40th birthday Super Mario Bros.
September 13, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Happy 40th birthday Super Mario Bros.
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
"Grit can look a lot like pearls from the right angle."
Got a new article for everyone to read on the importance of easy, official access to a more honest and less polished selection of gaming history:
kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com/2025/09/10/g...
Got a new article for everyone to read on the importance of easy, official access to a more honest and less polished selection of gaming history:
kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com/2025/09/10/g...
Give me more of your unpopular weirdos, classic game publishers
I love seeing Final Fantasy Tactics return with a thoughtful selection of extra bells and restored whistles on top. Of course I’m thrilled at the thought of being able to play Doom, Resident …
kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com
September 10, 2025 at 7:17 AM
"Grit can look a lot like pearls from the right angle."
Got a new article for everyone to read on the importance of easy, official access to a more honest and less polished selection of gaming history:
kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com/2025/09/10/g...
Got a new article for everyone to read on the importance of easy, official access to a more honest and less polished selection of gaming history:
kimimithegameeatingshemonster.com/2025/09/10/g...
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
The OG version when Budge published through his own company.
Trip Hawkins wrangled Budge to join in EA's first wave of games and republished it with sick album cover-esque art.
It became one of the most influential computer tools of the 1980s, inspiring countless game-creation tools.
Trip Hawkins wrangled Budge to join in EA's first wave of games and republished it with sick album cover-esque art.
It became one of the most influential computer tools of the 1980s, inspiring countless game-creation tools.
September 10, 2025 at 4:45 PM
The OG version when Budge published through his own company.
Trip Hawkins wrangled Budge to join in EA's first wave of games and republished it with sick album cover-esque art.
It became one of the most influential computer tools of the 1980s, inspiring countless game-creation tools.
Trip Hawkins wrangled Budge to join in EA's first wave of games and republished it with sick album cover-esque art.
It became one of the most influential computer tools of the 1980s, inspiring countless game-creation tools.
Reposted by Tony A. Rowe
How do we convince publishers to stop doing this? Bibliographies and footnotes matter. They should be printed.
Websites decay faster all the time. Especially in an era of huge mergers like the one that created Penguin Random House, where calls for efficiency see pages culled at every chance.
Websites decay faster all the time. Especially in an era of huge mergers like the one that created Penguin Random House, where calls for efficiency see pages culled at every chance.
September 2, 2025 at 11:31 PM
How do we convince publishers to stop doing this? Bibliographies and footnotes matter. They should be printed.
Websites decay faster all the time. Especially in an era of huge mergers like the one that created Penguin Random House, where calls for efficiency see pages culled at every chance.
Websites decay faster all the time. Especially in an era of huge mergers like the one that created Penguin Random House, where calls for efficiency see pages culled at every chance.
The definitions of 1st and 2nd generation game consoles date back to Len Buckwalter’s Video Games book (1977, pg. 13). After that, the generations are basically defined by Wikipedia users. archive.org/details/Vide...
September 3, 2025 at 4:16 AM
The definitions of 1st and 2nd generation game consoles date back to Len Buckwalter’s Video Games book (1977, pg. 13). After that, the generations are basically defined by Wikipedia users. archive.org/details/Vide...
And remaster Ogre Battle, too. Personally, I’d love for all three games to be playable for a modern audience.
"Life's Too Short, You Know?" - Atari's CEO Wants To Remaster Snatcher And Panzer Dragoon Saga.
"Life's Too Short, You Know?" - Atari's CEO Wants To Remaster Snatcher And Panzer Dragoon Saga
"I would love to work on one of those"
www.timeextension.com
September 2, 2025 at 5:37 PM
And remaster Ogre Battle, too. Personally, I’d love for all three games to be playable for a modern audience.